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onemorekayaker's avatar
onemorekayaker
New Hotshot
5 years ago

[V] Unplayed Vampires Do Not Drink Uncontrollably When Starving

Product: The Sims 4
Platform:PC
Which language are you playing the game in? English
How often does the bug occur? Every time (100%)
What is your current game version number? 1.71.386.1020
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? Expansions: Get to Work, Get Together, City Living, Cats and Dogs, Seasons, Get Famous, Island Living, Discover University, Eco Lifestyle, Snowy Escape Game Packs: Outdoor Retreat, Spa Day, Dine Out, Vampires, Parenthood, Jungle Adventure, Strangerville, Realm of Magic Stuff Packs: Luxury Party Stuff, Perfect Patio Stuff, Cool Kitchen Stuff, Spooky Stuff, Movie Hangout Stuff, Romantic Garden Stuff, Kids Room Stuff, Backyard Stuff, Vintage Glamor Stuff, Bowling Night Stuff, Fitness Stuff, Toddler Stuff, Laundry Day Stuff, My First Pet Stuff, Moschino Stuff, Tiny Living Stuff, Knifty Knitting Stuff, Paranormal Stuff
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Invite a a vampire Sim to a residential lot and lock them in a room so they can't leave. Wait three days and talk to them. Nothing will happen to you. Alternatively, take one with you on vacation and just wait.
What happens when the bug occurs? Nothing, the vampire does not drink uncontrollably from nearby Sims.
What do you expect to see? I expect vampires to drink uncontrollably from other Sims when their thirst meter is zeroed out, regardless of if they are currently being played/currently active or not.
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Not now. I've removed them.
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? Yes
Please describe the patch or change you made. I remember this working a while ago, but I couldn't say how long ago. Somewhere in the year to six month range. I don't know when this started becoming an issue.

There's supposed to be a vampire mechanic called "Drink Uncontrollably." It's essentially the consequence of allowing a vampire's thirst meter to hit bottom. When a played Sim's thirst meter zeros out, they randomly pick a nearby Sim and a "drink uncontrollably" action queues up.

This used to work with unplayed/inactive vampires as well - basically, adding a small element of danger to socializing with a vampire. Your Sim could invite their vampire friend with them on a vacation, but they had better make sure they had a bunch of plasma packs to conveniently leave out. It was also a good way of adding story elements as well - you *could* take a vampire prisoner in your basement dungeon, but going in to mock them would be a bad idea.

I don't know when, but this stopped working at some point. Currently played vampires will still drink uncontrollably when their thirst gets too low, but unplayed will not. I have even switched to playing the vampires in question and they queued up to drink uncontrollably the moment they became active.

Edit By Crinrict: Added Tag to Title

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  • onemorekayaker's avatar
    onemorekayaker
    New Hotshot
    5 years ago

    @crinrictSort of? They can feed themselves using a few of the vegetarian methods, but that's about it. Some of the vegetarian methods also won't work. The club coding seems to override whatever the issue is, but only during active club events where "drink plasma" is a club activity. Even in plasma/bitey club events, though, there seems to be a priority for vegetarian, then permission-based feeding, over the attacks.

    NPC vampires will:

    • Autonomously drink plasma packs that are left out and available, or plasma packs that were already in their inventory. The only plasma packs that work for autonomous feeding are the ones you buy from a PC, the ones you make from frogs and fish don't work even for played vampires. That's been a bug I think as long as I've had the Vampires pack. 
    • Order plasma drinks and plasma fruit salad at bars and restaurants. I think NPC vampires will eat plasma fruit salad that's left out or in a fridge that you've made for them, but haven't tested this in a while. They won't make plasma fruit drinks or plasma fruit salad for themselves even if they have a plasma fruit in their inventory.

    NPC vampires will not:

    • Drink uncontrollably from Sims
    • Drink involuntarily from a Sim (deeply or lightly or drain spirit)
    • Ask for permission to drink
    • Eat plasma fruit that is in their inventory or left out on the lot
    • Drink plasma packs that are made from frogs or fish, that is, the packs are created and not bought
    • Drink plasma fruit drinks that are left out but not made specifically for them
    • Make their own plasma fruit food or drinks

    Club event coding:

    • Clubs need to be actively meeting with "drink plasma" as an activity
    • NPC vampires will first drink every plasma pack they have in their inventory
    • Then they'll start queuing up to order plasma drinks at the bar (if meeting place is a bar)
    • They will ask for permission to drink from Sims and usually get rejected
    • Occasionally they will drink from Sims without permission, but this appears to be a last resort even when they're evil

    Its particularly strange that the autonomy during club activities is set like this, you'd think vampires would just attack Sims unless they had a specific trait (like guilty drinker or good or vegetarian or the reward trait from the pack) aimed at preventing/lowering it. Even evil vampire Sims go around asking permission.

    Edit: I didn't know NPC vampires were supposed to bite when angry/very angry, I've never seen that either. I've also never had them ask autonomously for permission to feed.

  • bookmaster325's avatar
    bookmaster325
    Seasoned Ace
    5 years ago
    @onemorekayaker I've noticed this for the longest time (several packs ago). I think it harks back when the vamps were nerfed a while ago because they were everywhere and a few complained It's kind of made me sad every since because I actually like the vampires for the fun chaotic moments in my game. :/
  • Marinuttonen's avatar
    Marinuttonen
    5 years ago
    @bookmaster325 Yep. With The Sims 4 it seems to be either all or nothing. You get all of the features at first, people who have no interest in the features but still bought the pack complain, and then you get none of the features.
  • @bookmaster325 @Marinuttonen , whatever happened around that time, it wasn't documented in any of the update logs I looked at. I remember reading something about a persistent bug with vampire invasions happening on public lots, and also the team trying to tune things down a bit. They may have overshot or accidentally broken something when trying to fix that.

    I only got the vampires pack in late 2019, so I think I missed out on a lot of the early features. I'm not sure if those were broken or stripped out, but the pack as it was originally intended sounds spectacular and I think I would have loved it.

    I hope they can restore all the missing features at some point - maybe add in toggles in gameplay settings so that people who don't want the vampires experience can just turn it off. That way everyone's happy.

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